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Exhibit on homeless and their pets debuts

Posted Dec. 4, 2013​

The Los Angeles–based National Museum of Animals & Society’s first exhibition, titled “My Dog is My Home: The Experience of Human-Animal Homelessness,” opened Nov. 14 and will run through Jan. 5, 2014. The exhibit will open in an online format sometime in early 2014.

The show, curated by Skid Row social worker Christine Kim, highlights the stories of several “interspecies families” through videos, paintings, photographs, audio recordings, and other mediums.

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One of the photos that will be on display at the “My Dog is My Home: The Experience of Human-Animal Homelessness” museum exhibit (Photo by Gary Phillip Russ)​

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“Showcasing contemporary and historical narratives and artifacts alike, the exhibit seeks to acknowledge how deep and strong the human-animal bond is, especially for people who have little else in their lives and find their home in the heart of an animal,” according to an Oct. 30 museum press release.

In conjunction with the exhibition, a series of related events were held, including on Oct. 24 the first Service Fair for the Animals of Skid Row, which gave the pets of Los Angeles’ homeless community food, supplies, grooming services, and wellness examinations; and a Nov. 11 lecture by Leslie Irvine, PhD, University of Colorado-Boulder professor and author of “My Dog Always Eats First: Homeless People and Their Animals.”

The museum was founded in 2010 as a mobile and online organization. It moved to a new exhibition space in East Hollywood on Nov. 10.

Here is more information about the National Museum of Animals & Society’s exhibitions, public programming, and educational efforts.